Travel Guide Yirgalem

Set in the heart of a forest and surrounded by coffee plantations, this village is well worth a visit for its magnificent lodge buried deep in nature. This is a historic place, since it was here that, during the Italian occupation, Princess Tenagnewerk, daughter of Haile Selassie, found refuge in a cave. She managed to escape to Kenya, while her husband, Ras Desta, led the resistance on the Somali border.The Sidama. With a population of 2,500,000, the Sidama, of Cushitic origin, represent around 9% of the Ethiopian population. Although they have converted in large numbers to Protestantism, a religion that is spreading throughout southern Ethiopia, this society has retained strong cultural traits.Annual Fiche celebrations. The Sidama follow their own calendar. The Fiche celebration marks the beginning of the new year. It is determined by the study of the moon's position in relation to the main constellations by astrologers, the ayanto. Once the calculations are complete, the village chiefs, known as Motté, have the news spread on market days. The festival, which lasts several weeks, opens with the tasting of wassa, a dish made with butter and enset, which neighbors share in the elders' hut. The elders bless the new year and the community by spreading a handful of food on the ground. The next day, when all work is forbidden, everyone washes their faces with a mixture of water and butter, wishing each other to reach the next Fiche in peace and good health. Children take their wishes from house to house, where butter is sprinkled on their hair as a sign of welcome. For a month, teenage boys and girls gather for traditional song and dance sessions in the markets.Abo and Tumano cults. Abo and Tumano are the founding fathers of the Sidama tribes. The cult of Abo, spiritual father of the Hollo and Garbicho tribes, is celebrated around the Wonsho mausoleum, 12 km from Yirgalem. The sanctuary is made up of three enclosures, the last of which, considered sacred, is only accessible to a few elders, designated as pure. Every four years, the Dasho ritual (literally "shedding the blood of oxen") takes place along the Haysho River, near the mausoleum. Hundreds of oxen are cleaned in the river, considered sacred, then slaughtered. Presided over by two elders from each tribe, the week-long ritual brings together thousands of people to share the meat and celebrate ancestral worship. This sacred site is also the place where, every Sunday, the tribal elders gather to dispense justice and resolve conflicts between the various clans. The Fakissa tribe's worship of ancestor Tumano follows much the same rituals, and takes place 6 km from the village of Leku.Visit to a sidama village: 200 birrs, guide 400 birrs. Information from Aregash Lodge.